Fate's Bitch
by MissHatter715
Summary: The prophecy was fulfilled and Harry Potter, the hero of the Wizarding World has returned. All are in awe at the mere whisper of his many hyphenated names...or not? If the violent protest is anything to go by they're not too awed and Harry has had enough. Or so he thought. It's really just his luck when Fate comes back knocking at his door. Literally.


_Fate. What a bitch._

The prophecy was fullfilled. He was the great hero of the century and a now budding Dark Lord. What will Harry Potter do next?

Harry let out a shrill bark of laughter. What did he expect? For the Ministry to welcome him back from his journey with open arms? For his name to be celebrated across the country, spoken with awe. Yes actually he did expect that. It was a shock when it didn't, when everything went to hell. Harry didn't want a parade, all he wanted was at least a little gratitude for the years of his life gone and lost to a cause he didn't really want to fight for.

The final battle was anything but inspiring. It was dirty and ruthless and people _died_. But there was no time for sorrowful goodbyes in the mist of battle, only to duck, roll, shoot, and shoot until there was no one left in your way. As many spells as you could think of as fast as you could because the person next to you just got shot down and it will be you next. Harry experienced what war was really like. How ruthless people can be, because it was either them or you. It only served to pool resentment in his heart when he thought about the Wizarding World counting on a _child_ to save them. To kill there monsters for them. And he did.

He had finally killed Voldemort. After 3 years of studying, training, and sacrifice. He had gone alone in the end, to hunt down the rest of the horcruxes. Destroyed the rest by himself because he couldn't bear to put Ron and Hermione through that pain, they had already done so much for him. So he snuck out in the night while Hermione and Ron were asleep in the tent, ready to face the monster who killed his parents. They tried to track him down after he had slipped away so he went muggle for a time. In the end he destroyed the remaining horcruxes and even found a ritual to destroy the one in his scar.

Harry learned many things during his time on the hunt. He learned about magic, true magic, not dark or light. Just pure and wild. It amazed him beyond belief. He also studied from monks in a remote place protected by Old Magic where they taught him patience and peace of mind. It was a bit of downer that he was still shit at Occlumency though. Now he wasn't _that_ bad, he could detect someone entering his mind and push them out quite forcefully but he was no Severus Snape. Mind walls and fake memories were quite beyond his skill. What he did find was a hidden talent for self-defence while under the radar as a muggle. Hell he may have even went a little overboard with it but Harry thought no one could say striking Voldyshorts down with _Gryffindor's sword_ was anything but badass.

Harry snorted to himself. If there was one thing he could say about the final battle without a sad look, it was facing Voldemort. There were so many emotions that came to the surface when Harry thought about it that he would often feel drained afterwards. Anger was always on the forefront. The unforgiving rage that came to the surface left him breathless. But there was also an emptiness there, loss. He had lost so much because of this monster and killing him was not going to ever make up for it. But Merlin, for a split second all he could feel was triumph. Then he looked around at the bodies surrounding him, the ruins of Hogwarts and all he felt was empty.

Then there he was. Sitting in a conference room with flashing lights and angry questions flying at him from left and right.

" _Potter, Potter, over here!"_

" _Potter why did you leave us for so long?! People have died because of you!"_

" _This is your fault!"_

" _Do you admit to being training to become the next Dark Lord?"_

" _What are your plans for the Wizarding World?"_

It hurt. The accusations. After all he had done for these people they would never change and all he wanted to do was pack up and leave. Start somewhere new and explore the Wizarding communities outside of Great Britain. He didn't belong there anymore, if he ever did.

Harry pushed through the throngs of people screaming questions at him and into the hallway of the Ministry. He was about to book it to the exit when he stopped short. There they were, all empty faces and broken eyes. Hermione and the Weasleys stood there staring at him. His chest hurt when he saw that Fred was missing from the group. For a split second a part of him thought they were going to resent him too. That they would blame him for Fred's death like the rest of the Wizarding World but those fears were snuffed out when Hermione barreled into him sobbing her heart out. Harry carefully wrapped his arms around her after getting over his shock. He looked over her mass of bushy hair to see Ron there smiling sadly at him.

"Good to see you, mate." Harry felt his eyes water at Ron's familiar tone and said in a choked voice, though he would willfully deny it later, "Good to be here."

 _ **1 Year Later**_

Harry sat at a small café in Florence, Italy soaking in the warm breeze, watching the bustle of people go by, full of cheerful chatter. A lot of things had happened that year after the final battle. Just because Voldemort was gone didn't mean his Death Eaters weren't. People were demanding that he become an Auror and help capture the rest of Voldemort's groupies but Harry had declined. He had fought enough, it was time these people take there safety into there own hands. You can guess how well that went over. It was like Fourth Year all over again. His name was slandered across the news papers and the few public figures that expressed gratitude for his help in defeating Voldemort were few and far between. Harry instead helped with the reconstruction of Hogwarts after the battle. The place was hard to look at. Harry could never understand why Voldemort would want to wreck the only home he ever had but that's just what he did. Hogwarts was in shambles and the work to fix it was slow but steady.

After reconciling with the Weasley's he had taken to visiting there often. Molly's warm bustle always brought a smile to his face. They were in morning and Harry tried to help them through it, even if it meant having to deal with Molly's overbearing fussing. He knew it was just to take her mind off Fred. After a few months with the Weasleys and helping out at Hogwarts Harry decided to leave. To get away from the criticism from the Ministry and travel again. Hermione came with him but Ron understandably declinded. He had to be with his family. After another few months of traveling through northern Europe seeing the sights and learning about obsure magic practces along the way, Hermione decided to go back to Great Britian. With a tearful fairwell and the promises of sending post cards he was off to explore the world alone. And it wasn't as bad as it sounds. In fact, Harry learned more about Wizarding life through his travels than through all his years at Hogwarts.

There was rich culture everywhere he looked. The more he saw, the more he wanted to see until he was bouncing around Europe like he couldn't decide where to start first. Harry had to give it to them, the muggles knew what they were doing. They had built some of the most amazing things he had ever seen. Besides, there was magic everywhere if you knew where to look. His desire to travel and experience the Wizarding World unfortunately didn't dampen his paranoia. He was constantly on edge from the lingering effects of the war and the Death Eaters flouting around. There was always a spike of adrenaline that hit him at the sight of a fight or the mention of the war. It was a hard habit to break but he had a feeling it would save his life so he continued to be on the look out. People had a tendency to want to kill him, being constantly on an adrenaline rush couldn't be too bad a thing. Overall Harry was enjoying himself for the first time in years. He should have known Fate was going to bite him in the ass.


End file.
